Blog — 4th of July kids

Add some spark to your 4th of July celebration this year with some fun, festive, patriotic foods!  There are lots of ways to add July Fourth flair to all of your Independence Day meals.  Think American flags, stars, stripes, red, white and blue, fireworks, sparklers, and so on.  I'm sure you can come up with lots of great ideas.  We'd like to share some of our tried and true 4th of July food ideas, from smoothies to breakfast to simple snacks and drinks.  Enjoy, and have a fun and festive Fourth of July!

Start the morning off, or cool down in the afternoon with a delicious, healthy and colorful Fourth of July Smoothie.  It's very easy to make, and ingredients and amounts will vary depending on your tastes and how many smoothies you plan to make.  Here's the basic recipe:

Blend the following separately, and then layer them in a glass (red, white, and blue), and garnish with strawberry and blueberry skewers:

• Red: crushed ice, strawberries, a little bit of milk or coconut milk
• White: crushed ice, bananas, milk/coconut milk
• Blue: crushed ice, blueberries, milk/coconut milk

Kids will love this red, white, and blue breakfast that's super easy to make. Using a star-shaped cookie cutter, you can add a 4th of July touch to lots of different foods - toast, French toast, pancakes, cookies, etc.  Here, we made waffle stars, which we served with red, white, and blue fruit (strawberries, bananas, and blueberries). 

To make a 4th of July fruit platter, simply, create rows of sliced strawberries, sliced bananas, and blueberries. You could also add raspberries, watermelon, and a little whipped cream.

As a simple snack or lunch item that kids will love, cut out star-shaped mini sandwiches.  Here are some with peanut butter and jelly and some with turkey.  

Here are some 4th of July Bell Pepper Nachos (above, topped with star quesadillas).

If you like red bell peppers, you will love these!  They are really easy to make, too.  Set your oven to 350.  In a small glass baking dish, pour some red taco sauce.  Add a layer of "chip sized" red bell peppers, a layer of black beans, and a layer of grated Monterey Jack Cheese.  Repeat these three layers.  Cook at 350, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.  

Here is a table display with some fun, festive 4th of July snacks, including chips and salsa in a flag serving tray, blueberries and star-shaped watermelon, red, white and blue strawberries (strawberries dipped in melted white chocolate and then in blue sugar), a festive drink (see below), and American Flag seven-layer dip (in more detail below).

You can make this dip as you would with any other seven-layer dip (such as, spread a layer of refried beans on the bottom, then a layer of each: salsa, guacamole, grated cheese, and sour cream).  With the American Flag dip, top it with "stars and stripes" -- rows of diced red bell peppers and grated Monterey Jack cheese, and a corner that consists of some sour cream covered with black beans, and some chopped white onions for stars.

These drinks are as tasty as they are pretty.  The two in the back are the adult version and the one in the front is kid-friendly.  

Adult 4th of July Cocktails: over ice, Blue Curacao, vodka, and top with 7-up or club soda.  Garnish with red fruit (watermelon, raspberry, cherry)

4th of July Mocktails: over ice, blue Gatorade, 7-up or club soda.  Garnish with fruit.

Have a happy, healthy, fun and festive 4th of July!